Friday, 31 October 2008

Good to see the Evening Post reporting the case made by the Greens for a proper transport hub at Temple Meads. Not only would it give far more of the city a direct link to the main railway station, it would give everyone crossing the city the 'seamless interchange' to continue their journeys - undercover, in safety, well informed, and well lit.

Contrast that with what bus users face now - say, on an evening journey from here in Stockwood to Horfield. A change, a longish walk, a wait at one of the city centre bus stops, and a seriously unpredictable arrival time. Then the same on the way back.

Temple Meads is ideal as a hub, and it's already well on the way to providing what's needed. The 'Digby Wyatt Shed' - the covered car park that formed part of the old station - is to become the new ticket office and waiting area, with shops, cafes and so on. The all important 'real time information' is taking shape (as pictured) All it needs is the bus and coach services themselves. Plot 6 is perfectly placed to provide for them.

But there's something very strange going on. Usually, the city planners say how land should be used, and it's open to full public debate. Not around Temple Meads though. The land use planning - the 'Local Development Framework' - has been left to one of the landowners, SWRDA, and they're pushing ahead with commissioning development that would put a couple of blocks of flats just where the buses could go. They've not consulted, in fact the plans still aren't even public. It was only thanks to some hard digging that the Greens found out what's being done.

There should be an e-petition for a Temple Meads hub on the council website very soon. I'll post the address here (and everywhere else I can think of!)

Thursday, 30 October 2008

Sadly, this evening's Cabinet meeting has approved the Primary Review, including the closure of Stockwood Green and two other Bristol primary schools. This is despite all the arguments put by so many adults and children showing the stupidity of the decision.

The decision is 'target led' the main target being a pot of government money. It has little or nothing to do with providing a decent education close to home.

Congratulations for everyone who resisted the closure steamroller - especially Mike Landen, and (I would say this!) Councillor Charlie Bolton, who argued so strongly against the closures. Charlie's address to the council is here on the Bristol Green Party website.

The mattress has been lying around for a couple of months now. The council aims to shift flytipped rubbish in two working days, but this mattress has been a real problem. It started by the path that leads down to West Town Lane, and in no time got pushed into the brook. It's been reported a few times now, but all that's happened is that it's shifted a few yards downstream.

So I'm trying a new extra helpful strategy. Flickr has a gizmo so you can show on a map where your pictures were taken. So I've put a few current flytipping pictures - including the mattress - on there, and sent the link to the council.

About this Blog

This one's from the little known Bristolian outpost of Stockwood, first settled by city expats back in the fifties. Leafy, open, and close to the countryside.... until they grub up the Green Belt and open spaces to build an 'urban extension'.

Written by an adoptive Stockwoodsman, arrived from the wild north-east back in 2004, this blog sets out to look at Stockwood and Bristol issues, mostly from a green perspective